SacPaws.com

NEW BEDFORD — Acts of bravery and courage come with the territory of a firefighter, but Al Machado might have broken new ground Monday when he saved a house cat with mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

Sweating and breathing heavily from fighting the fire, Mr. Machado was still making faces and picking fur from his mouth when he told a reporter there wasn't much hesitation involved. He had rescued the cat from a burning, second-floor apartment on Summer Street "and it really needed air and it couldn't wait," he said.

So he began mouth-to-mouth breathing on the cat as he carried it out to the sidewalk, where police and paramedics were ready with oxygen, and left it with them while he went back inside the apartment. Paramedics administered oxygen while he was inside the building and, at the next opportunity, Mr. Machado resumed mouth-to-mouth, and the cat, a tiger angora, revived and was resting comfortably in the animal rescue van, awaiting a ride to the veterinarian.

Asked what it tasted like giving the breath of life to a cat, Mr. Machado just laughed, grimaced and said, "Like fur."

No one was injured in the fire at 562 Summer St., a three-decker just north of Interstate 195. The blaze was called in by the third-floor tenant, the only person in the building at the time, who escaped with his dog. The first-floor tenant's pets all were saved: two dogs, three cats, a chinchilla, a ferret and some frogs.

On the second floor, two pit bulls were saved with the help of oxygen from paramedics and animal rescue officers, but two cats died in the apartment, which had heavy damage, especially in a bedroom area where fire officials said the blaze started. The third cat was saved by Mr. Machado, who was praised by District Chief Michael Brodeur as a dog lover who doesn't hesitate when an animal needs help.

The state fire marshal was called in to investigate the midday fire, which is being treated as suspicious, said Chief Brodeur. But the building was saved, with some smoke damage on the third floor and water damage on the first, in addition to the damage on the second floor.

If you want someone who will eat whatever you put in front of him and never say its not quite as good as his mothers

...then buy a dog.

If you want someone always willing to go out, at any hour, for as long and wherever you want ...

...then buy a dog.

If you want someone who will never touch the remote, doesn't care about football, and can sit next to you as you watch romantic movies

...then buy a dog.

If you want someone who is content to get on your bed just to
warm your feet and whom you can push off if he snores

...then buy a dog.

If you want someone who never criticizes what you do, doesn't care if you are pretty or ugly, fat or thin, young or old, who acts as if every word you say is especially worthy of listening to, and loves you unconditionally, perpetually ..

...then buy a dog.

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...then buy a cat!

Now be honest, you thought I was gonna say... marry a man, didn't you?